The Second ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (Plus) (ADMM Plus) was held in Brunei on 29 August. The Minister of State for Defence Jitendra Singh led the Indian delegation at the meeting. The Ministers issued a joint Declaration at the end of the meeting in which it has been decided that the ADMM Plus countries will establish practical measures that reduce vulnerability to miscalculation and avoid misunderstanding and undesirable incidents at sea.
The Minister of State for Railways Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 23 August, informed that, the present peak power requirement of Indian Railways is around 4000 Mega Watt (MW). Preliminary discussions have been held with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) for exploring the possibility of setting up of a nuclear power plant of 1400 MW capacity in Joint Venture with them. The thermal power plant of 1000 MW capacity being set up in Joint Venture (JV) with NTPC Ltd. is presently under construction and its first unit of 250 MW is likely to be commissioned by 2014 and subsequent units thereafter.
Five New Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode have started from this academic session. They are Chittoor in Andhra, Kota in Rajasthan, Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, Guwahati in Assam and Vadodara in Gujarat. This is a part of a major step taken by the HRD Ministry to promote 20 IIITs in the current Five Year Plan under this scheme. Five more are expected to start from the next year. These institutes are steps forward in promoting academia–industries partnership in technical education as the content of the Syllabi will be Industry aligned. The employability of the students will vastly improve. There will be more Research in the specific field required by the IT Industry and there will be greater interface between Teaching and Industry. The next five IIITs to start functioning from 2014-15 are in Kerala, Himachal, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura and Karnataka.
The Minister of State for Railways Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 23 August, informed that, the present peak power requirement of Indian Railways is around 4000 Mega Watt (MW). Preliminary discussions have been held with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) for exploring the possibility of setting up of a nuclear power plant of 1400 MW capacity in Joint Venture with them. The thermal power plant of 1000 MW capacity being set up in Joint Venture (JV) with NTPC Ltd. is presently under construction and its first unit of 250 MW is likely to be commissioned by 2014 and subsequent units thereafter.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation, K. C. Venugopal informed the Lok Sabha on 23 August that the Government of India has granted in-principle approval for setting up of a Greenfield airport at Kannur in Kerala. The project is to be implemented on Build Own and Operate (BOO) model. The State Government of Kerala has appointed M/s Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) as a nodal agency for the construction of the Kannur Airport. M/s KINFRA has formed a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), namely M/s Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL), for the development of the airport. Ministry of Environment & Forest has granted necessary environment clearance to the project. M/s KIAL has acquired 1278 acres of land so far. M/s KIAL has requested for financial assistance under Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme. Ministry of Civil Aviation has supported the request of M/s KIAL and requested Ministry of Finance to grant the VGF.
Special Envoy of India for Sudan and South Sudan and Special Secretary (Development Partnership Administration), Ministry of External Affairs, P.S. Raghavan paid an official visit to Juba, South Sudan on 08-09 August 2013. The visit came only a day after the swearing in of the new 18-member South Sudanese Cabinet, reflective of India’s strong commitment in partnering South Sudan, which gained independence only in July 2011, in its political transition process.
In fact, Raghavan was the first foreign dignitary to interact with the new South Sudanese leadership. Raghavan had detailed discussions with the President of South Sudan H.E. Gen Salva Kiir, as well as with the key Ministers of Foreign Affairs; Electricity; Health; Agriculture and Rural Development; Petroleum, Mining and Industry as well as high level officials of the Ministry of Finance. He also interacted with key members of the Indian community based in Juba as well as representatives of the Indian contingent of the peacekeepers attached to the United Nations Mission for South Sudan (UNMISS).
India has two battalions of 2,200 personnel in UNMISS, deployed in two of the largest states in South Sudan, Jonglei and Upper Nile, since 2011.The visit was useful for identifying India’s development projects for South Sudan. The visit was also undertaken in preparation for the forthcoming visit of the South Sudanese President to India, scheduled from 26-28 August 2013. President Kiir will be accompanied by a high level delegation of Ministers, senior officials and business leaders.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Centre signed an agreement in New Delhi on 12th August for US $ 300 million additional loan to upgrade 254 km of deteriorated highways in northern and southern Bihar. The additional financing for the ongoing Bihar State Highways-II Project will widen the sections of existing four highways to two lanes, build and maintain bridges and repair the pavements. It will optimize access to the state highway network for the beneficiaries living in remote villages. The loan agreement was signed by Nilaya Mitash, joint secretary (multilateral institutions), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Centre, and Narhari Rao, deputy country director for India, on behalf of ADB.
The project agreement was signed by Sunil Barthwal, resident commissioner of Bihar and Ranjit Kumar Mishra, DGM (tech), Bihar State Road Development Corporation Ltd. The ADB has supported Bihar's State Highway Development Programme through assistance to Bihar State Highways Project-I (US $ 420 million, closed in July, 2012) followed by Project-II (US $ 300 million, signed in December, 2010). Together, the projects are reconstructing 1,209km of state highways.
India and Senegal enjoy age-old friendly relations and to reaffirm their commitment to have sustained cultural exchanges by signing MoU for “Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation” between India and Senegal for the period 2013-2015 on 29th July 2013 at New Delhi. The MoU was signed by Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Minister of Culture on behalf of Government of India and by H.E. Mr. Adboul Aziz Mbaye, Minister of Culture, on behalf of Government of Republic of Senegal. The programme is valid for three years. Thereafter, however, it will continue to be in force till a fresh Exchange Programme is signed.
The Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation seeks to:
Exchange the experts in the field of theatre.
Encourage training in the areas of artistic heritage, creative activities, audio visual, music, dance, theatre and puppetry.
India signed a Protocol amending the India - Morocco Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) in New Delhi on 8 August. The Protocol was signed by Sudha Sharma, Chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes on behalf of Government of India and Larbi Reffouh, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to India on behalf of Government of the Kingdom of Morocco. The Protocol is based on international standards of transparency and exchange of information. It provides for effective exchange of information including banking information between tax authorities of the two countries. It also provides that each treaty partner shall use its information gathering measures to obtain the requested information even though it may not need such information for its own domestic tax purposes. The Agreement will enhance mutual co-operation between the two countries by having effective exchange of information in tax matters.
The Minister of State for Railways Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 23 August, informed that, the present peak power requirement of Indian Railways is around 4000 Mega Watt (MW). Preliminary discussions have been held with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) for exploring the possibility of setting up of a nuclear power plant of 1400 MW capacity in Joint Venture with them. The thermal power plant of 1000 MW capacity being set up in Joint Venture (JV) with NTPC Ltd. is presently under construction and its first unit of 250 MW is likely to be commissioned by 2014 and subsequent units thereafter.
Five New Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode have started from this academic session. They are Chittoor in Andhra, Kota in Rajasthan, Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, Guwahati in Assam and Vadodara in Gujarat. This is a part of a major step taken by the HRD Ministry to promote 20 IIITs in the current Five Year Plan under this scheme. Five more are expected to start from the next year. These institutes are steps forward in promoting academia–industries partnership in technical education as the content of the Syllabi will be Industry aligned. The employability of the students will vastly improve. There will be more Research in the specific field required by the IT Industry and there will be greater interface between Teaching and Industry. The next five IIITs to start functioning from 2014-15 are in Kerala, Himachal, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura and Karnataka.
The Minister of State for Railways Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 23 August, informed that, the present peak power requirement of Indian Railways is around 4000 Mega Watt (MW). Preliminary discussions have been held with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) for exploring the possibility of setting up of a nuclear power plant of 1400 MW capacity in Joint Venture with them. The thermal power plant of 1000 MW capacity being set up in Joint Venture (JV) with NTPC Ltd. is presently under construction and its first unit of 250 MW is likely to be commissioned by 2014 and subsequent units thereafter.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation, K. C. Venugopal informed the Lok Sabha on 23 August that the Government of India has granted in-principle approval for setting up of a Greenfield airport at Kannur in Kerala. The project is to be implemented on Build Own and Operate (BOO) model. The State Government of Kerala has appointed M/s Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) as a nodal agency for the construction of the Kannur Airport. M/s KINFRA has formed a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), namely M/s Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL), for the development of the airport. Ministry of Environment & Forest has granted necessary environment clearance to the project. M/s KIAL has acquired 1278 acres of land so far. M/s KIAL has requested for financial assistance under Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme. Ministry of Civil Aviation has supported the request of M/s KIAL and requested Ministry of Finance to grant the VGF.
Special Envoy of India for Sudan and South Sudan and Special Secretary (Development Partnership Administration), Ministry of External Affairs, P.S. Raghavan paid an official visit to Juba, South Sudan on 08-09 August 2013. The visit came only a day after the swearing in of the new 18-member South Sudanese Cabinet, reflective of India’s strong commitment in partnering South Sudan, which gained independence only in July 2011, in its political transition process.
In fact, Raghavan was the first foreign dignitary to interact with the new South Sudanese leadership. Raghavan had detailed discussions with the President of South Sudan H.E. Gen Salva Kiir, as well as with the key Ministers of Foreign Affairs; Electricity; Health; Agriculture and Rural Development; Petroleum, Mining and Industry as well as high level officials of the Ministry of Finance. He also interacted with key members of the Indian community based in Juba as well as representatives of the Indian contingent of the peacekeepers attached to the United Nations Mission for South Sudan (UNMISS).
India has two battalions of 2,200 personnel in UNMISS, deployed in two of the largest states in South Sudan, Jonglei and Upper Nile, since 2011.The visit was useful for identifying India’s development projects for South Sudan. The visit was also undertaken in preparation for the forthcoming visit of the South Sudanese President to India, scheduled from 26-28 August 2013. President Kiir will be accompanied by a high level delegation of Ministers, senior officials and business leaders.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Centre signed an agreement in New Delhi on 12th August for US $ 300 million additional loan to upgrade 254 km of deteriorated highways in northern and southern Bihar. The additional financing for the ongoing Bihar State Highways-II Project will widen the sections of existing four highways to two lanes, build and maintain bridges and repair the pavements. It will optimize access to the state highway network for the beneficiaries living in remote villages. The loan agreement was signed by Nilaya Mitash, joint secretary (multilateral institutions), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Centre, and Narhari Rao, deputy country director for India, on behalf of ADB.
The project agreement was signed by Sunil Barthwal, resident commissioner of Bihar and Ranjit Kumar Mishra, DGM (tech), Bihar State Road Development Corporation Ltd. The ADB has supported Bihar's State Highway Development Programme through assistance to Bihar State Highways Project-I (US $ 420 million, closed in July, 2012) followed by Project-II (US $ 300 million, signed in December, 2010). Together, the projects are reconstructing 1,209km of state highways.
India and Senegal enjoy age-old friendly relations and to reaffirm their commitment to have sustained cultural exchanges by signing MoU for “Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation” between India and Senegal for the period 2013-2015 on 29th July 2013 at New Delhi. The MoU was signed by Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Minister of Culture on behalf of Government of India and by H.E. Mr. Adboul Aziz Mbaye, Minister of Culture, on behalf of Government of Republic of Senegal. The programme is valid for three years. Thereafter, however, it will continue to be in force till a fresh Exchange Programme is signed.
The Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation seeks to:
Exchange the experts in the field of theatre.
Encourage training in the areas of artistic heritage, creative activities, audio visual, music, dance, theatre and puppetry.
- Exchange the publications on cultural heritage.
- Exchange canvas works and grounding mats for exhibition.
- Exchange experts in the field of prehistoric archaeology; provide laboratory training in the field of restoration of cultural properties and monuments.
- Exchange experts reciprocally with a view to promoting library activities and expertise in the fields of publishing, printing and binding.
- Exchange programmes depicting various facets of life and culture in the two parties through their respective Radio and TV organizations.
- Exchange experiences in the field of sports and explore the possibilities of exchanging sports teams/coaches in diverse disciplines.
- Organize cultural week featuring various aspects of its culture.
India signed a Protocol amending the India - Morocco Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) in New Delhi on 8 August. The Protocol was signed by Sudha Sharma, Chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes on behalf of Government of India and Larbi Reffouh, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to India on behalf of Government of the Kingdom of Morocco. The Protocol is based on international standards of transparency and exchange of information. It provides for effective exchange of information including banking information between tax authorities of the two countries. It also provides that each treaty partner shall use its information gathering measures to obtain the requested information even though it may not need such information for its own domestic tax purposes. The Agreement will enhance mutual co-operation between the two countries by having effective exchange of information in tax matters.
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